Chinese envoy asks int'l community to practice genuine multilateralism, oppose bloc politics

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Wednesday called on the international community to practice genuine multilateralism and oppose bloc politics.

At present, the world is entering a new period of turbulence and change. Regional hot-spot issues pop up one after another while conventional and non-conventional security threats are intertwined. The threats of terrorism, extremism and separatism continue to rise. Problems such as transnational organized crime and drug trafficking are becoming ever more prominent, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), told a Security Council meeting on cooperation between the UN and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, those problems pose severe challenges to the security and development of all countries, he said, adding that a certain country, in particular, pursues unilateralism and hegemony, runs amok with power politics, harms the security and development interests of other countries, and provokes a new Cold War and geopolitical competition, severely undermining the international order and global strategic stability.

Faced with a complex and grave situation, the international community needs to practice genuine multilateralism and oppose bloc politics and the forming of cliques. The international community needs to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and oppose confrontation and exerting pressure. The international community needs to seek equality and mutual trust and oppose power politics and bullying, said Zhang. "Only by keeping to the right direction can we join hands to build a more prosperous, stable, equitable and just world."

China and the CSTO members are important partners with a longstanding friendship and mutual trust. Against the new backdrop, China stands ready to work with the CSTO members to deepen cooperation in the fields of the Belt and Road Initiative, economics and trade, security, people-to-people and cultural engagement, improve interconnectivity and promote the economic integration process, he said.

"We will explore effective means to fully unleash the cooperation potentials of such mechanisms as the CSTO and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to firmly crack down on terrorism, promote durable peace and common prosperity in the region, and build a closer community with a shared future."

China will also step up foreign policy communication and coordination with the CSTO members and carry out close cooperation on multilateral platforms, such as the UN, so as to make positive contributions to maintaining the international order based on international law and safeguard the central coordination role of the UN in international affairs, he said.

As a regional security organization with significant influence, the CSTO has played an important role in safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of its member states, and in preventing and responding to new threats and challenges to regional security, said Zhang.

China appreciates CSTO-UN cooperation in recent years in counterterrorism, combating drug trafficking and organized crime, and in peacekeeping. China supports the CSTO in continuing to leverage its advantages and forming synergy with UN efforts to maintain international peace and security, he said.

On Afghanistan, Zhang said the top priority for the international community is to go all out to avoid a humanitarian crisis in the country. To this end, massive efforts must be made to provide humanitarian relief. And the overseas assets that belong to Afghanistan should be returned quickly and in full to the Afghan people.